Pagoda (band)
Encyclopedia
Pagoda was a indie band from Brooklyn
, New York
. It's last line-up before break-up in 2011 consists of Michael Pitt
as vocalist and guitarist, along with Reece Carr on drums, Willie Paredes on bass, and Chris Hoffman on cello. Their first self-titled album was released February 27, 2007 through Ecstatic Peace
. The name Pagoda
comes from the Taoist house of worship of the same name. They began recording their sophomore release in March 2009 at Excello Recording Studios in Brooklyn
, New York
with producer Hugh Pool
. In October 2009 they released their second career single entitled "Warzone" on their official Myspace
page.
who was only twenty-one at the time. While working on Gus Van Sant
's 2005 film Last Days, Pitt was introduced to Thurston Moore
of Sonic Youth
who'd signed on to the film as a musical advisor. Van Sant urged Michael to play Moore one of his original songs and Moore was impressed, eventually signing Pitt and Pagoda's then current line-up (which included Jamie Kallend, actor/musician Ryan Donowho
and Indigo Ruth-Davis) to his Ecstatic Peace
imprint.
The band spent two months recording the record in Milan
, Italy
with producer Luca Amendolara, in which time more than forty songs were recorded. Ten (including a bonus track) were eventually chosen and Pagoda's eponymous debut album was released in early 2007. However, by the time of the album's release the current Pagoda line-up had dismantled. It was announced through the band's official website that the new line-up included Willy Paredes on bass guitar, Chris Hoffman on cello and Reece Carr on drums.
The line-up entered the studio in March 2009 to record their as of yet untitled sophomore release. Recorded live in the studio by producer Hugh Pool
at Excello Recording Studios in Brooklyn
, New York
, the album marks a departure from the post-grunge
freak-out of their debut. On a trip to Morocco
, Pitt was introduced to Gnawa music
. The Gnawa
play deeply hypnotic trance music, marked by low-toned, rhythmic sintir melodies, call and response singing, handclapping and cymbals. This music influenced the sound of the album. And in late 2011 Pitt released that the band had spit up. "We just don't have the time, and if the album does come out in the U.S. we will all be lucky. But for now we leave you." Pitt said during an interview. Nov. 2011.
was released on February 27, 2007 in America
and May 14, 2007 in the United Kingdom
. A year prior to its release the band had offered a five track sampler featuring the songs "Death to Birth", "Fetus", "Sadartha", "Song 1" and "I Do" to audiences who attended their live shows. Following the cult success
of Last Days the sampler was leaked onto the internet, eventually offered for free on the band's official MySpace
page. This was the band's first release on Ecstatic Peace
. It received generally positive reviews in the media, with Spin Magazine praising lead single "Lesson Learned" as a "grungy-around-the-edges rumbler on which Pitt growls momentarily about self-medicating with aneurysm-inducing aplomb." In its three star review of the album, Blender Magazine stated "Pitt stresses that he’s not just another actor slumming in a band. He needn’t bother: Even if this is an act, it’s a perfectly good one."
, New York
with producer Hugh Pool
. . The songs were recorded live in the studio (except for overdubs which were later added) and were documented by a crew of cameramen and photographers who filmed the band in high definition
. The April sessions were also documented on the band's official MySpace
blog in which it was stated that "The new material has a decidedly Eastern feel to it, incorporating everything from Arabic, Japanese and African rhythms. Whereas these elements underlaid the group's first release, they are brought to the forefront for its follow-up." The blog
also revealed several of the new song titles including "Sahara", "Drop D", "Native American" and "Blood Crosses". It was revealed that the new album would feature experiments with Gnawa
music. The first single off the album "Warzone" debuted on MySpace
in October 2009. In April 2010, it was revealed that the album, titled Rebirth, would also include a DVD
element, described as "The Rebirth: A Visual Album" Pagoda has said they will release the album late 2013. However the album has already been released in Europe on October 14 2011. The American release of the album is being pushed back due to the lack of P.R. Michael Pitt has said, "we just released an album in 2007 give us a break it normally take 5 years to release a second album, right?"
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It's last line-up before break-up in 2011 consists of Michael Pitt
Michael Pitt
Michael Carmen Pitt is an American actor and musician. Pitt is best known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, and in television for his portrayal of James "Jimmy" Darmody in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.-Personal life:Pitt was born in West Orange, New Jersey, the...
as vocalist and guitarist, along with Reece Carr on drums, Willie Paredes on bass, and Chris Hoffman on cello. Their first self-titled album was released February 27, 2007 through Ecstatic Peace
Ecstatic Peace
Ecstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore. The premiere release was a split cassette featuring spoken word performances from Michael Gira of Swans and Lydia Lunch...
. The name Pagoda
Pagoda
A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...
comes from the Taoist house of worship of the same name. They began recording their sophomore release in March 2009 at Excello Recording Studios in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with producer Hugh Pool
Hugh Pool
Hugh Pool is an American musician who plays guitar in a unique style that melds traditional Delta blues with country music and classic and psychedelic rock and roll. His instrument of choice is a National, a resonator guitar somewhat like a Dobro, played through a distortion pedal...
. In October 2009 they released their second career single entitled "Warzone" on their official Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page.
History
Pagoda began as a musical concept of lead singer and guitarist Michael PittMichael Pitt
Michael Carmen Pitt is an American actor and musician. Pitt is best known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, and in television for his portrayal of James "Jimmy" Darmody in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.-Personal life:Pitt was born in West Orange, New Jersey, the...
who was only twenty-one at the time. While working on Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
's 2005 film Last Days, Pitt was introduced to Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
who'd signed on to the film as a musical advisor. Van Sant urged Michael to play Moore one of his original songs and Moore was impressed, eventually signing Pitt and Pagoda's then current line-up (which included Jamie Kallend, actor/musician Ryan Donowho
Ryan Donowho
Ryan Wayne Donowho is an American actor and musician.-Early life:Born in Houston, Texas, Donowho moved to Brooklyn, New York and then to Los Angeles. He was a street musician in New York City as "bucket" drummer...
and Indigo Ruth-Davis) to his Ecstatic Peace
Ecstatic Peace
Ecstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore. The premiere release was a split cassette featuring spoken word performances from Michael Gira of Swans and Lydia Lunch...
imprint.
The band spent two months recording the record in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
with producer Luca Amendolara, in which time more than forty songs were recorded. Ten (including a bonus track) were eventually chosen and Pagoda's eponymous debut album was released in early 2007. However, by the time of the album's release the current Pagoda line-up had dismantled. It was announced through the band's official website that the new line-up included Willy Paredes on bass guitar, Chris Hoffman on cello and Reece Carr on drums.
The line-up entered the studio in March 2009 to record their as of yet untitled sophomore release. Recorded live in the studio by producer Hugh Pool
Hugh Pool
Hugh Pool is an American musician who plays guitar in a unique style that melds traditional Delta blues with country music and classic and psychedelic rock and roll. His instrument of choice is a National, a resonator guitar somewhat like a Dobro, played through a distortion pedal...
at Excello Recording Studios in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the album marks a departure from the post-grunge
Post-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...
freak-out of their debut. On a trip to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Pitt was introduced to Gnawa music
Gnawa music
Gnawa music is a mixture of sub-Saharan African, Berber, and Sufi religious songs and rhythms. It combines music and acrobatic dancing. The music is both a prayer and a celebration of life...
. The Gnawa
Gnawa
The Gnawa people originated from North and West Africa; to be precise the ancient Ghanaian Empire of Ouagadougou .This name Gnawa is taken from one of the indigenous languages of the Sahara Desert called Tamazight...
play deeply hypnotic trance music, marked by low-toned, rhythmic sintir melodies, call and response singing, handclapping and cymbals. This music influenced the sound of the album. And in late 2011 Pitt released that the band had spit up. "We just don't have the time, and if the album does come out in the U.S. we will all be lucky. But for now we leave you." Pitt said during an interview. Nov. 2011.
Pagoda (Album)
PagodaPagoda (album)
Pagoda is the debut album by Pagoda. It was recorded in Milan, and was released in 2007.Following the completion of the album, band members Jamie and Indigo left the band. Luca stepped in to play bass, but has since taken the role as sound man for the 2007 European tour, and will remain Pagoda's...
was released on February 27, 2007 in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and May 14, 2007 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. A year prior to its release the band had offered a five track sampler featuring the songs "Death to Birth", "Fetus", "Sadartha", "Song 1" and "I Do" to audiences who attended their live shows. Following the cult success
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
of Last Days the sampler was leaked onto the internet, eventually offered for free on the band's official MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page. This was the band's first release on Ecstatic Peace
Ecstatic Peace
Ecstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore. The premiere release was a split cassette featuring spoken word performances from Michael Gira of Swans and Lydia Lunch...
. It received generally positive reviews in the media, with Spin Magazine praising lead single "Lesson Learned" as a "grungy-around-the-edges rumbler on which Pitt growls momentarily about self-medicating with aneurysm-inducing aplomb." In its three star review of the album, Blender Magazine stated "Pitt stresses that he’s not just another actor slumming in a band. He needn’t bother: Even if this is an act, it’s a perfectly good one."
Rebirth
Pagoda's current line-up began recording Rebirth, the follow-up to their 2007 debut in March 2009 at Excello Recording Studios in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with producer Hugh Pool
Hugh Pool
Hugh Pool is an American musician who plays guitar in a unique style that melds traditional Delta blues with country music and classic and psychedelic rock and roll. His instrument of choice is a National, a resonator guitar somewhat like a Dobro, played through a distortion pedal...
. . The songs were recorded live in the studio (except for overdubs which were later added) and were documented by a crew of cameramen and photographers who filmed the band in high definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
. The April sessions were also documented on the band's official MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
blog in which it was stated that "The new material has a decidedly Eastern feel to it, incorporating everything from Arabic, Japanese and African rhythms. Whereas these elements underlaid the group's first release, they are brought to the forefront for its follow-up." The blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
also revealed several of the new song titles including "Sahara", "Drop D", "Native American" and "Blood Crosses". It was revealed that the new album would feature experiments with Gnawa
Gnawa
The Gnawa people originated from North and West Africa; to be precise the ancient Ghanaian Empire of Ouagadougou .This name Gnawa is taken from one of the indigenous languages of the Sahara Desert called Tamazight...
music. The first single off the album "Warzone" debuted on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
in October 2009. In April 2010, it was revealed that the album, titled Rebirth, would also include a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
element, described as "The Rebirth: A Visual Album" Pagoda has said they will release the album late 2013. However the album has already been released in Europe on October 14 2011. The American release of the album is being pushed back due to the lack of P.R. Michael Pitt has said, "we just released an album in 2007 give us a break it normally take 5 years to release a second album, right?"
Discography
- The Demo EP
- PagodaPagoda (album)Pagoda is the debut album by Pagoda. It was recorded in Milan, and was released in 2007.Following the completion of the album, band members Jamie and Indigo left the band. Luca stepped in to play bass, but has since taken the role as sound man for the 2007 European tour, and will remain Pagoda's...
- Rebirth (Release date "NEVER")
External links
- http://www.pagodapagoda.com/- Official Site With Nothing on It"
- Spin.com - Review on Pagoda´s self-titled debut album. With free download of their upcoming single, "Lesson Learned"
- Review of Pagoda at Pitchfork MediaPitchfork MediaPitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...